I love the Final Fantasy series, but improving with age is not something I really associate with any of them. My opinion of most of them has stayed the same. That said, IX is definitely among those I think less of now (including VIII and X). Games that I appreciate more with age tend to be the ones that do something weird or strange that I might not have understood well in my younger years but impresses me as I get older. FFIX is by design a throw-back. It does almost nothing in terms of innovation, though it does what it does reasonable well. I do appreciate its craftsmanship, but feels very bland in comparison to other games of its era.

I've said this before that if you look at all the parts of FFIX, it seems great, but put it together and it bores me so much. I've given this a lot more thought recently, and I think I know the two parts that really bother me: The battles are atrociously slow (even if otherwise sound) and the battle music is awful. The remake would have to be more than just cosmetic to make me happy.

I think Dragon's Crown's character designs are incredible. Completely over-the-top, exaggerated, and unrealistic. They are so cartoonish that they border on ugly, but it's almost as if by straddling that line, they come out with something very unique and interesting. I'll probably give this one a shot, even though I didn't like Odin's Sphere because I'm a sucker for games with interesting aesthetics.

The discussion surrounding this game also reminds me why I think Anita Sarkeesian has probably had a net negative effect on the discussion of gender and their tropes in video games. It's nice that someone brought it to the forefront (a positive), but the direction Anita pushed it in is very one-sided, skewing the discussion and affecting many people's ability to really think critically about video games (a negative). I don't know, maybe this is just growing pains we'll move out of in a couple years and we'll really start seeing a more nuanced approach to such issues.

There are a few reviewers of media that have had a tremendous impact not only on what media I consume, but how I consume said media. Roger Ebert is one of them, and probably the most important overall. Within the last year or so I had gotten to the point where I no longer really read his reviews unless I'd already seen it, but still checked his website frequently either way. So in a sense, I had moved on from needing his input. That said, I still value it greatly. And while his output has been gigantic, it does sadden me that it is now complete.

---

I think the whole business about his 'anti-videogame' opinion pieces has always been overblown. Especially because in the end, Roger effectively admitted defeat (something hard to get a man as stubborn and full of pride as Roger to do). So yeah, Roger was wrong about video games, but his argument was fascinating, well-written, and thought provoking. It was challenging to deal with, and few handled it successfully (I can't remember a single one now that I thought did a decent job rebuking it). Most it just turned into blubbering idiots.

I am the only person that the laughing scene didn't bother a single bit? It made perfect sense given its context. In fact, it making you uncomfortable because it sounds so forced and awkward also makes perfect sense given its context. Without the internet telling me the scene is an abomination, I don't think I would have ever given it a second thought.

valkyria chronicles. theres a baqttle early on that just completely cockblocked me to the point that i still havent passed it.

There's a excellent guide on gamefaqs on how to get S rankings on everything (or whatever the highest rank is). You might check it out if you're that stuck. I used it towards the end of the game when I was running out of steam playing it and was worried I wouldn't actually finish the game.

I can't say I minded the presence of Vaan or Panelo, but they definitely weren't needed. That said, I think the idea of telling a story in an RPG where the main protagonist is actually someone like Vaan should have been could be quite interesting. That is, someone who is on for the ride, immature, out of their league, and generally in the way. It could be a really great coming of age story. Though, it would probably kill the power fantasy most gamers seem to require out of the main protagonist.

I couldn't play more than 45 minutes of Legend of Dragoon. I remember being incredibly annoyed. The only other RPG to do this for me was Beyond the Beyond. I have no interest in returning to either considering there are so many other interesting PSX, PS2, and PC RPGs that I'd like to look into.